security anita nilsson will join us. we will hear from high your heroes usa talking about -- higher heroes usa talking about veterans. have a great day. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] . .

at 1:00 p.m., we will be live at that conference in norman spinco speakers include a ron paul and steele. next, remarks from author barbara ehrenreich, chris hayes, and harold meyerson and activists and the obama administration. a spoke at georgetown university in washington. this is two hours >> welcome. think you for joining us for this panel discussion. this is of labor, the left, and progresses in the obama error -- era.

before i go any further, i would like to single of several people whose are hard work made tonight's event possible. first, the staff of the kalmanovitz initiative. their help was invaluable in putting the seven together tonight. our student workers -- i would also like to thank rachel from the georgetown university office of communications and joanne who helped with the logistics of this event tonight and put the panel together. her hope was indispensable in many ways to organizing the event. finally, i would like to think the free trade journals that

have co-sponsored this event tonight. "dissent,"t"the n-- "dissent," "the nation," and "the american prospect." in november 2009, georgetown univ. formally launched this initiative thinks it to a generous gift from the year kalmanovitz charitable foundation. what to bring together scholars, students, and practitioners who are concerned about the problems that currently confronts working people, the working poor, and the embattled tradition of embattled bargaining and union representation. this was organized in response to a realization that inequality has been on the rise for more than a generation in this nation the struggle of the

nation's forest workers have become more difficult in many ways, and yet workers efforts to improve their lives yourself organization has ever harder in a world complicated by globalization, technological change, and increased employer resistance to unionization among our goals is to stimulate discussion of these problems that can in turn lead to action that helps address the problems that workers face today. we undertake that work here at this jazz with catholic university mindful of the fact that social teaching has long championed the right for workers to bargain collectively. workers need a strong voice in some many workplaces this is confirmed by the sad news in today's newspaper about the tragedy in west virginia. this is a disaster that has

appeared to take the lives of at least 25 miners. as we open this discussion, we are mindful of the working families that are in pain. how can workers best gain a voice? that is really the theme of tonight's discussion on a labor, the left, and progressives. it strikes us this is an appropriate time to take stock of what has been done since the arrival of the obama administration 15 months ago and what remains to be done. since the new deal, unions have allied with other progressive groups in the support of the democratic party bingo that does not mean the relationship has been without approach in emphasis, so, too, is the situation today. where does labor stand now 15 minutes -- 50 months into the presidency? how can we work with other

races? what role can young people play in relation to these questions? these are some of the subjects we will discuss tonight. i would like to introduce the panel to be a starting with the other end of the table with my good friend and colleague michael kazin who is a professor of history and of the nation's for most experts. he, in many ways, was the founder of the union, the democratic party alliance. he is the co-editor of "dissent,"one of the sponsors of this events. next to him is harold meyerson, editor at larger of "the american prospect," it weekly columnist for "the washington

post," and a reporter on the american labor scene. next to harold, liz shuler, secretary-treasurer of the afl- cio. she is both the first woman and the youngest person ever to hold this post, the second-highest in the american labor federalization. she worked her way up in the international brotherhood of electrical workers as an organizer, a lobbyist, and campaign organizer. in september 2009, liz shuler was elected to her current office as it richard trumka i's running mate. next is the executive vice president of the service employees international union. he has devoted the past 32 years of his life to the labor movement having joined while he was working at the hebrew home

for the aged in 1978. he has since risen to the ranks of what is now the nation's largest union and was elected vice-president in 2004. next to gerry, we are pleased to have ehrenreich have, arthur -- author and intellectual. she is the author of many books, most famously "nickle and dimed," which she recounted her own experience working undercover as a low-wage worker. i am sure many of you are familiar with that book. she has arguably done more to bring this to a mass audience than anyone in america. next to barbara, we are pleased to have chris hayes, the washington editor of "the nation" magazine.

he has written in lots including "the american prospect." we are very pleased to have this panel. what we have for tonight is a very conversational format. my colleague, mike kazin and i will inform questions for our panel, but we really want to engage our questions and each other and then after we have had a chance to do that for a little while, and we would like them to engage with you. there is a microphone in the center aisle. after we have had a conversation, i invite you to line up at the microphone and asked were questions to the panel they go again, we are so pleased to have you for this discussion tonight.

i think i have said enough at this point and i will turn it over to my colleague, michael kazin. >> thank you. i want to thank joe and the initiative for helping to sponsor this and putting this together. also, to joanne. well, the first question on the table on the leaflet is what is the state of the labor movement today and how is it sharing in the political arena. the way to start this is it to maybe move it to my right hough, not politically but directionally, and start with harold. >> the state of labor is it pretty abysmal. not to put too fine a point on it. in the last year, we have had a

truly world-class recession which has been a disaster for certain sectors, represented labor, manufacturing, construction. public employees will -- will probably be the next wave of cutbacks ago it has been a disaster because the chief legislative goal of the union movement which was the employee free choice act which essentially would ease the process of unionizing workers which has become all but impossible over the last 30 years due to weaknesses in the national labor relations act and management's ability to exploit those weaknesses. it is now clear that the employee free choice act, even in a compromise version, is not going to beat enacted. the problem with that is left to

its own devices, the number of workers in private sector unions continue to decline. it is currently at 7.2%. at the end of world war ii it was 40%. there comes an imbalance where a de-unionized sector has more and more difficulty supporting a unionized public sector. one of the two developments contributed to the decline in support of unions is quite clear. is evidence in the polling data by the gallup organization would show the decline of unions over the last year ago two factors i think are increasingly the fact that public-sector workers and now, to a certain degree, retain

the kind of benefits the private sector workers used to have but not anymore in the current economy. also, the broad perception which i fear the once great united autoworkers failed to dispel which is the decline of the american auto industry is because they are being paid $17 per hour which is untrue. an effective counter measure that would have been the truth never got out. in terms of public opinion, in terms of where the politically, all of those things -- unions are in big trouble. finally, had the employee free choice act, or efca, past there were some major plans to the mass of organizing in many of the major non-union companies around, many of them mass retailers and others. those plans have now been

scrapped. the unions are grappling with essentially what to do now. it is my observation, i do not have any quantitative data here, but i believe there is less organizing going on right now of workers than at any time i can remember since i started following the stuff back in the 19th century. my role here here is so people will presumably move on from the somber remarks. despite the fact that there is a pro union presidents and most of the democrats in congress are too in some degree a pro-union, the first year of his presidency has been something between a disappointment and a disaster for the american union movement. >> ok. [laughter] can i just say ditto?

however, i will take exception with a few of the things he might have characterized and accurately. i think he is dead on as far as the recession, the jobs crisis, and certainly labor laws. weak labor laws have taken its toll. but it takes a short of a miracle to organize a union now and late today -- in today's climate. there are stores out there of workers who have sacrificed so much to have the basic rights to form a union in their workplace. everything you said is essentially accurate, but there are a lot of good organizing stories out there never led to the point that i want to make. what are the main points i want to make tonight in case i did not get another opportunity to talk? [laughter] the point that i want to make is that the labor union movement is the only authentic voice for

workers out there today. it is workers in general and i think that is a misconception about the labor movement that we only care about our workers. go to tack on to that, we are the cornerstone of a more progressive, broad movement. i think if anything is in a sad shape it is that we have not done a good enough job to opening our doors to the way the workplace is changing, the way the work force is growing in terms of the women, people of color, young people, so it is something we are paying much closer attention to now ago in fact, we now women are 50% of the work force officially. women in the audience can clap. [applause] 62% of mothers are breadwinners.

one elite four americans are caring for an elderly adults and -- one in four americans are caring for elderly adults. there is in the composition of the work force. the labor movement has not kept up pace with how work is changing. that is the one thing i want to start taking a look at as an officer. we are deeply committed to opening doors wider than ever before. we want to look at how we can change our structure and our system to make it more flexible and start working for the way work is done in terms of contract, freelance, and part- time work. we have challenges in front of us. >> i do not essentially disagree with what harold has said, but i do want to suggest

that what fascinates me most about the crisis that we are presently in is that in order to decide what to do to enact new labor laws, we need to build a broad movement out there against inequalities ago -- against inequality. in some ways, we will get efca and then build a movement against inequality. it fascinates me the extent to which young workers do not see the labor movement as a place where you go to fight and equality in this society. it is not a place where you go to build a just society. the days where you see the labor movement as the cornerstone at the social justice movement have long passed. to me, it has been fascinating

to get into conversations with young people ago i come from a time where essentially it was a cornerstone of our belief, that the labor movement was a vital part of the building a progressive movement in this country. but that is no longer the case. i was also a part of a lot of other movements that, in some ways, the labor movement was not seen as all that helpful. if you cared about racial justice in this society, if you cared about patriarchy and how to organize against it, if you cared about these other things the labor movement was over here, if you cared about the war in vietnam, the labor merriment was there -- the labor movement was there. we believed we needed to build a way to deal with all those other issues but we had to be relevant to the other issues.

30 something years later, i find that is a challenge to us which is in fact -- which is unfortunate. gefca fight, we should go to the naacp and go every where we can to convince people that essentially it is essential for workers to have a voice on the job and in politics in order for us to achieve the goals of racial equality. in a lot of ways, i think they were more hospitable to us than we have been to them. i think we really have to see ourselves as partners with a whole set of progressive forces out there where we are speaking for them and they are speaking for us in order to build this new labour movement ago -- labor movement. i think it is important for the rest of the progressive movement to see how important the labor movement is it to them a

feeling their goals around a variety -- it is to them fulfilling their bowls -- goals about the environment and other things. >> well, there is so much to comment on. i just have one in note -- one note i want to sound off on for now ag. i would say the big challenge facing labor -- i will not compete, but it is to organize the unemployed. we need to welcome the unemployed as members which is not a way that our unions are set up to work. you know the model. you have to have a job than you

can organize. before this recession, we knew there are were norma -- there were no more jobs for a lifetime. the experience of people is that many jobs -- they have that many jobs before middle age. there is not that mind-set of being a minor and that is what i do. -- mindset of be a miner. it is volatile. we did not have a structure that acknowledges that people have been laid off are still working people, still in need. now with unemployment close to 10% it becomes painfully ridiculous. i have heard this from people who are laid off in this

recession and they say they did not know they would not be a member of the union anymore. that is right. it is all over. my challenge to the union people here is, what are we doing to build a movement? this is not the newest thing in the world. in germany, you can be a member if you are working or not. there is some organizing of the unemployed going on in a few spots in america with some help from the afl-cio. that, it seems to me, is the biggest shift of consciousness. to the working class, it is the same people whether they have jobs or not. >> i start by making a very quick. about the definition of the turn "special interest -- of the term

"special interest" which is an amorphous and used in washington. if he were to think, what are the two groups of people in america that have the least to gain -- what are the three groups of people that have the least to gain from the health care reform bill? here is who they would beat. undocumented workers, super wealthy people who, in any conceivable environment aren't going to get very good medical care, and union members and unions with very good contracts. in fact, unions -- the one thing a union can really do for its members in a universe of tremendous medical uncertainty, the bond selling. it has come at the billet -- the biggest selling quite it has in terms of a kitchen table issue is delivering a good benefit package to its members. by creating a system upon of

quasi-universal healthcare, they have reduced the marginal advantage that they have to go and yet, when this bill, for all its flaws is the most of the apiece of social legislation, when this was on its deathbed, the american labor movement rushed in shock pads. we should all be extremely cognizant of that fact a =. when we think about what would happen in its diminished state, it still could have happened with slick maneuvering from nancy pelosi to revise this effort to help get it passed a. the labor movement incredible work in pushing it over the finish line.

the labor movement remains huge force in the movement. eric massar, his example -- and this gets back to the special. there is a notion that labor is a special interest, but actually the way it comports itself is the precise opposite. in fact, it comported itself -- i said this at a cocktail dinner next to a former republican staffer on the senate committee and she gasped. [laughter] i said it something about how i wanted a more solidaritistic country. now, on the reverse of that, but has never done -- what has the

last of what the obama administration has done for labor? not nothing. there is becker who is an attorney who has been in recess appointee -- raise your hand if you have heard of him? you guys are knowledgeable and. there is that and there is also some real piecemeal stuff going on they essentially did not lift a finger to pass that. i wish we could hire the right

wingers run the left. they think how can we reward us and punish our enemies. they have no -- have no agenda above that. the bandwidth is not occupied by getting poor people health insurance. it is about -- often, in the midst of government you are making these trade-offs. making unions stronger will help the country. particularly in health care, these are a big issue and are -- -- and are coming at the expense of doing things to empower labor. >> chris is a tough act to follow up and go i think what would be good on the heels of his comments is to put what he said to the panel. there are two ideas, labor being

presented as, especially by mainstream media, as a special interest, yet as he pointed out being the foot soldier to help push through this health care bill. i am curious about these thoughts of the other panelists how they read that legislative victory. is it historic, or some people have argued it is a missed opportunity that could have produced more. i put it to the panel for their comments in any order they would like to take this a bigger >> i would argue that it is the most significant piece of luck -- social legislation we have had. i think some part of why in was the best we could do is because those of us who were trying to organize couldn't figure out how to organize a broader public in support of something bigger.

that is what left us in the place we are. i agree it is one of the most solid characteristic -- solidaristic things. it would have been smart if we could organize more behind that move. we did not come to the extent it back up -- it is backed us up into a corner and get it is better than what we had. the only way to get to where we go or on a free choice is to begin to figure out how to build a broader movement >> i will follow that by saying -- a broader movement. >> i will follow that by saying i wish i could bottle that and spread it around. we cannot get traction on all of the good things we do social security, for example, minimum

wage, none of our members make minimum wage. there are so many examples of this, and for whatever reason we still maintain this sort of negative stereotypes that we are self interest. in this satellite culture that we live in, and the health care bill in particular, we need to find a way to communicate this opposition that can still a health-care bill with two words -- the panel. it is frustrating that we do not get the traction and the ability to spread the good news about what we do. >> one quick thing, and i do not mean to be a spoiler. i have put my time in on a union to get minds and rallies. -- in on the union picket lines. there is a reason a white unions

have that reputation. we are over that, right darks i am saying -- as it union inched towards seeing themselves not as being institutions with big buildings in washington d.c., but seeing them as part of a progressive movement the must go even further in representing a working class which, as i mentioned, is about people who are not working. >> one comment. there is a reason why we are seen as special interest and that is because sometimes we operate like one. case in point, right at the beginning of the -- just after he won, some of us decided we wanted to go into cities with the labor movement in communities of color to build a

whole set of movements around retrofitting our building stock as part of the green movement. you would not want to believe the battle, the understandable battle, we got into a around, if we create jobs, who should they go to? choose your battles. i think we ultimately got to the right place with a building trade that everyone in some ways, we should create these jobs and those jobs should be made widely available to all who need them including people who historically have been locked out of the building forever -- black, brown, and yellow fo lk. that is why some people think it is a labor movement that only protects its own and "its own" does not look like us.

we ought to make a labor movement that looks like us. this is a labor movement that ought to take black, brown, yellow, and women. if we could revitalize itself to where it does, if it does not the workers start to see centers in other places where they can grow themselves, not the movement. we have to change. -- we have to change a little bit. >> there is a striking degree to which, ironically, if you look at labor as a special interest, what a lousy job and has gone as a special interest -- what a lousy job it has done. in the next upcoming battle for financial reform, labor union members are no more advantage or disadvantage -- no more

advantaged or disadvantaged. they are the one constituency with some oaf count, -- with some oopmh that is there for the struggles of the general class although they did not do nearly -- it hardly any of reaching out institutionally. as a special interest, the fight for labor reform has been around since 1965 when there was the first effort, that i know of, to amend the taft hartley act and repeal anti-union. 87 pieces of legislation when up to capitol hill. that was not one of them to do this when you have power in the white house and congress.

they did in 1978 when they tried again to reform labor laws across the board. carter was president with democratic control and it did not make it. he was dealing with a lot of stuff. he said it was a point of commission that we would get to admit to elections. newt gingrich took over then. maybe there is enough support for efca we are doing health care first. oops, we lost a massachusetts. as a special interest taking care of its own, politically it is appalling. they do not really go anywhere. to speak for that broader class, there is oddly one interesting program of doing this. but it is a political program in a way they have used to try to get swing voters to vote democratic in states like ohio,

pennsylvania, wisconsin, etc. it is called working america program. they knock on your doors and canvas. with you like to join this union, you can with your grievances, and we have political power. this organizing is going on. the have more than 1 million people signed up in ohio and probably over 750,000 in pennsylvania. it is not really taking this to the next level. some of them are unemployed but do not think of them as organized to the and unemployed. it is a swing constituency. they're getting to this around the edges. as their core membership, in the private sector, the relative weight of this is going to

expand. i think it is an idea that needs to be extended in different directions along the lines that barbara and gerry talked about as well as political programs to try and have a democratic candidates do better during election times with non-unions. >> it is like your continuing my-, critical -- mind negative critical -- [laughter] one thing. i will break with the consensus here. i thought it was a possible impression of self-interest was efca. i naively said from the beginning, we were taking on the issue of people's writes at work. they have the freedom of speech from a freedom to assemble. no privacy rights, nothing.

the only right they will focus on now is the right to join a union but that is not good enough. my idea was let's have a built -- a bill of rights for workers. let's take on all of those rights figure in the end, it was hard to fight. we did. hope we tried. we tried. you will know that there is lively discussion within the boundaries of people who really feel strongly about the labor movement and the working poor. >> while i believe that labor law reform is a good thing and

ought to happen, i do not know how we get to a robust labor movement without it. i do not know it was the first thing out of the box that we should have done, nor do i know that the best way in order to involve people in a conversation about what to do about inequality is to talk about efca. i do not know if that is the best way. there is disagreements with us about that. i think some of us had an illusion and have been quickly disabused of it. that we could actually win something like efca with lobbying and not a movement. it was such a significant piece of social legislator -- legislation that you knew the right was my to come out and beat it. to think we were going to sneak it through because we have the right politicians in line is a

mistake. now, once you decide that is the case it becomes, how do we best to do this you cannot decide to go out and do legislation like that without understanding that it was going to be opposed in a big way and you needed to have a broad public support for it. hopperefca -- efca may not get a product support. >> i am glad you raised the working america movement. it is three million-strong out. these are the cissy members of the afl-cio and many of them are unemployed -- they are associated members and they want to make a difference. one of the most innovative things they are doing, and i am an advocate of thinking creatively, rather than rallying industries, let's do things the technology, fought, and

creativity. one of the things they are doing is they have these countrywide conference calls where working america people dial in to listen what is going on with congress actual members of congress talking about the jobs legislation and what they are doing to create jobs. with these people can do, if they are feeling disenfranchised which is with the mobilization. that is an important part of our movement that is starting to grow. >> chris, did you want to comment? rather than continuing the doom and gloom outside of things -- side of things, i want to maybe think -- one of the things of reading about labor history, there are times when labor was growing and

capturing the imagination of a lot of people. this was when it was able to project an image of itself as, not a universal interest but at least one that was really capturing people's sense of what was wrong in society and giving it some sense of what, in general, may be needed to write this. it was certainly in the 19th -- the 1930's and 1940's. it was during the 1950 proxy, too. -- during the 1950's, too. it gave people a sense that an outbreak was going on with farmers in this country. i wonder what it would take, whether people could speculate, on how labor canada, not with

public relations look better, because that in the and is moving things horizontal a, but how labor can project itself as representing what americans need. it is -- is it a living wage campaign? is it talking about moral capitalism? i do not know. i would like to hear from people who are more involved talk about this. >> i feel like -- so, there are two ways to think about this, there is a problem with public reception and powerful. they are related. the idea behind efca was to run

around public perception and go towards power. as a power in a good sense, not a negative sense. how're we should like for working people. -- power we should like. i wonder to the degree -- i guess there is a negative feedback which is as the labor movement strings, less people have occasion to interface with this and to come to know this. once people have occasion to interface with it, the more in an or parochial its seems -- the more parochial it seems. i think that ultimately part of the problem is how do we need kind of get our head around

this broader redistribution of power that has to happen? i guess i just do not think the perception aspect of this would be in the top three things i would worry about. i think that unions are not fond of a very well and are not like to, but banks are not be there and they get their way. you know i mean? everyone hates the banks. i do not think there are losing sleep over that. -- i do not think they are losing sleep. >> i think the labor movement needs to stand for justice in our society. i think we were right to organize. i think we would have -- it would have been smarter if we had done it differently. i think we should still fight for these broad social kind of issues and try to organize more broadly than we do at the moment. as a part of trying to strengthen progressives, i

think labor law reform is something that ought to happen. we ought to at least convince people, again, that we are an instrument of justice in our society and that it is hard to get there without us. most people think we are an instrument of trying to pat -- protect our own jobs. i think that is bullshit. that is not who we are. that is not what i spent 30 years of my life trying to do. i was a movement that works for the plight of working people and organizes to improve it. that is what i do. i do not think that is broadly how would talk about ourselves in the broader public and we should do more of it. i think we should continue to do some of the stuff like we did about health care reform, about comprehensive immigration reform, and we should continue to do that stuff. let's stop acting like we can

lobby this into existence and go out and try to organize broad forces behind this. then we say, you know what, having the right to self advocacy is a way to get to do this fight. >> go ahead. >> yes. thank you. i agree with gerry. have been talking a lot about reaching out to more young people. but the fact that the labor union movement has not done succession planning as far as bringing up young union leaders, but also showing the young workers out there who desperately need a voice that labor can be that voice. we see what is happening in the economy. but young people are disenfranchised and cannot make it on their own. they're going into an incredible debt trying to get a college degree to get one step ahead in the economy but that a graduate

with no job let alone a job with benefits. they have no health care. i think it makes the case for itself, but young people are just not aware of the high labor movement -- of the labor movement that we can be an advocate. if we reach out to the next generation and younger students, as young as a junior high and high school, -- it >> that will end up on glenn beck, by the way. [laughter] >> unions thugs going into high school. [laughter] >> it needs to be a two way street and there are advocates to really get it, but we need to reach beyond behind -- reach beyond the young people who are plugged in and do not know about the social justice movement and what can do to help them economically. >> there are some interesting

and exciting things going on with at least college students and labor. go last week i was at tulane where the food service workers were organizing trying to get -- it had tremendous faculty and student support. it was inspiring. i loved the rally. ggeorgetown, you the day, -- uv, and i think a challenge for the unions, for all of us, is can we find a way to connect the social conscience of so many college students who really are moved by the plight of canada's workers again and again -- the plight of union workers. it is like a scam. a college $15,000 and you get a

right to enter the job lottery which you will probably lose. we have to find a way. that is another reason i plead with you. think of a way, union people, that you can include those who do not have jobs including the 22-year-old spi. >> is that the 1990 proxy in a good place. i was the political editor of the "the l.a. weekly." it is not a union town. it wanted to be the a non-union alternative to san francisco. with the demographic transformation of los angeles into plurality and to what is a majority latino city, some interesting stuff went on. some very successful campaigns for the fledgling cantors union

in loss angeles really is seized the moral imagination -- for the fledgling janitor's union. that is probably the single most striking example of unions taking the type of high ground increasing both their perception of the public and their power. but it led to all kinds of things. it became a cadre of within loss angeles -- within less angeles of this militant activist core of workers, almost all of them immigrants, with the janitor and hotel workers which spearheaded the transformation of los angeles politics. no one walked let alone precinct walks before the transformation.

in a broad sense, i will not bore you with details, a lot of the transformation of california to a red, to provoke, to blue -- a red suit purple, to blue has to do with the latino population which was the court. this coincides with a successful living wage movement. these have been guided by some of the successes in the los angeles movement. in which the union movement helps an organization which is really advocating the interest of low-wage workers were generally which i think is a significant way forward for unions. when i look at the situation

today and wonder if there is an organizing that can coincide with a broader public interest drive, one thing i have heard from people in the labor movement and people and lay gerry's union is banks. bank workers, almost everywhere else, they are unionized. indeed, given the private sector is so heavily non-union, the least organized sector in the american economy is the finance, insurance, real estate which is close to 0%. a campaign around banks that dealt with issues of a financial reform and also the role of union pension funds and investors with also low wage bank tellers, there are no high wage bank tellers, that may be a

place to go. i am not sure it. it seems to me that you win at least kinds of battles of perception when you are organizing for real people who do not have much on their plates who are asking for decency, democracy in the workplace. >> it is interesting to me that efca never passed but my union from 1996 to now has grown. no other union cannot claim that they go and has grown on the basis of some interesting types of campaigns. janitors, health-care workers, they are of color, and we know we need to organize those people and go out in a big way to organize. when you do, you end up organizing a very different kind of campaign that some of the traditional campaigns. you have to be willing to do

that. i think we were -- we are right to go out and organize the biggest sellers. shouldn't someone be talking about how the banks operate inside society? shouldn't we also in the process be talking about what happens to the workers inside those banks? that combines the two and that is the kind of struggle where we should go out and move more. we need to think about organizing a very different kind of worker and we have been historically interested in organizing. that will change the way we think about organizing. >> in terms of organizing different kinds of workers, it is worth talking about immigration for a moment ago it is pretty central. the correlation has been there and there are a lot of peaks and

valleys. but there has been -- i mean, i think the afl-cio has recognized this writing on the wall. out of the self-interest, they understand that -- barbara was talking about that you have no rights at work. welcome to let me tell you something. less than zero rights, the people who live in an absolute state of a morally inexcusable, little -- liminal non- citizenship where it means not only just losing their jobs but being sent hundreds of miles away. there is an abomination that has continued for so long ago if you were to ask me what is the one thing i could wave a magic wand

and do tomorrow it would be to create citizenship for that 12 million people. not just because it is morally called for, but there is a lot of union members, potential union members, in that cool and their families. -- in that pool. there is room for broader social justice. never in my life have i seen a more inspiring march vanity may 1st, 2006, art for amorites -- inspiring march on may 1, 2006, in chicago. i saw big polish dudes marching arm in arm with mexican women for immigration rights.

the enthusiasm and the amount of direct effect it has on people's lives is something i think that has been inexcusably overlooked. >> when they come together is a beautiful thing and it reminds me of the environmentalists, teamsters and turtles in seat tle. we have a great example with the car wash campaign in l.a.. it is a very inspiring. the workers were talking about being exploited in the car washes in l.a. and they had no voice. labor day is to advocate for those who have no voice. i think it was a very organic movement that came out of the community. it was very clear wage stuff and

safety violations were all over the place there were no minimum workplace standards. the community rallied around these workers and actually started a legal strategy to start selling these companies -- su to --ing these companies. they would go through this involved process and settled for pennies on the dollar. it became clear that this was not a long-term strategy. what is? forming a union. basically, collective bargaining became the answer. i think it is a good example of what the labor movement is now doing to pursue obtaining a voice for those who do not have it. .

the first thing i would say about us and the labor movement is that the leadership has gotten to a point where it is in support of comprehensive immigration reforms. however, we need to go deep in our own ranks to build that support. there is an ugly battle that is about to happen out there that pits black and brown workers in an ugly kind of way. we have to deal with it real quick. that is why some of us have been

going to the naacp and everyone else and saying that if we do not figure out how to empower him. workers as part of the movement, we will not get where we want to go. the political and corporation of immigrants is essential to building a progressive movement in this country. to allow what is happening to immigrant workers to happen is appalling. we have to go deep. if we do not, the right wing will blow apart. >> i want to thank gerry for that point. and what to get some reaction from the panel. i want to let the audience know that they can share some questions after this round. please line up at the microphone. we will go to that in a minute. the tea party movement that

arose to fight the health care bill, i am sure that there will be a movement at least as large and probably more aggressive when it comes to a comprehensive immigration reform. on that point, what does labor to to alliy with immigrant communities and wage the fight in ways that allow the polish worker and mexican woman to come together rather than dividing over this? how do we anticipate what will happen and prepare for it? how do we mobilize in a way that immigration reform can be accomplished in so we can avoid those divisions that many will try to foment? >> i hope i am not the only answer here.

a few months ago, i saw some of that kind of thing in action. it was in the context of organizing unemployed people in fort wayne, indiana. this was initiated by the central labor council there. there was a get together which i attended. it was overwhelmed with people because of the recession. these were people who were unemployed. it was amazing to me to see that here were from three workers -- foundry workers, a typical blue- collar guys, here were mexican workers whose legality would be something to inquire about. here were people who were

african-americans, anglos, and everything who have lost their jobs or were losing them in the post office and other places. it was beautiful. i am pushing organizing the unemployed again. it started in the context of getting together. the scary word "solidarity" was being used over and over by people of different colors. i want to point out that this was for wayne, indiana -- fort wayne, indiana. it was the anxiously employed workers association of fort wayne. [laughter] >> member to member contact is crucial in this respect. i am of two mines about immigration reform.

i sometimes think the opposition is of -- overstated. here is my argument. the anti-immigration forces are incredibly well organized. the base of that group are people who tend to be retirees. they tend to have time on their hands. they tend to be very plugged in and wilbur ross an office with calls. this scares them to jesus -- and will barrage an office with calls. this year's people. the public opinion data on this is interestingly murky. -- this scares people. the public opinion data on this is interestingly murky. the anti-immigration movement

has puffed themselves up. if you look at the calls in any district in the country, democratic or republican, if you get irabarraged with anti- immigration calls and faxes. i think there is a perception that it is strong. then it is. >> i hope you are right. i have organized huge numbers of workers around comprehensive immigration reform. there is significant worker opposition to a comprehensive immigration reform. appallingly, african-american people have gone over time in trying to organize a battle royale for the country between african-americans and latinos on this issue. i have the feeling it has some legs.

it does not take a whole lot to get african american workers to another place. it does not take a whole lot. we need to spend more time doing it. we need to try to figure of the best way to get it done. we can get the work done. on white workers, i think we have some real problems. i have spent a lot of time in wisconsin and places like that. i have heard some of the most into-immigrant -- intra- immigrant sentiments -- anti- imiigrmigrant sentiments. it is racist. black people get scared. you can organize them quicker. on the other hand, i think and

have some success on that as well. >> i think we are in for the long haul. i do not think this is the kind of thing that happens when the economy is as bad as it is today. when we look at when labor laws were liberalized in 1965 and 1986, it is not going to happen when there are 5.5 americans for every job opening. that is according to the economic policy institute. we will be fighting this for a while. it is going to be a hell of the fight -- a hell of a fight. >> we have to find a way to neutralize this. coming from a union where i have experienced gerry is talking

about, it is in different geographic areas as well. the perception changes. with the job market we are in, with the economy the way it is, people feel threatened by the notion of bringing in workers. people do not want to invite the new pool of labor in. if there is a way to educate our members to neutralize the threat, i think that will go along way. >> i would like to turn to the first question from the audience. >> is this on? >> i think so. >> i should say that i have been shot at how the perceptions of unions have changed. -- i have been shocked that held the perceptions of unions

have changed. we learned in junior high about the chief accomplishments of the new deal being social security and the labor unions. i was horrified when gm was going under the most people felt the unions had too much and they should have been like toyota workers. these were people who would have been union workers in another day and time. as to the same they wanted benefits -- instead of saying they wanted those benefits, they said they would restrain the country. i think the unions have to reintroduce themselves. most people do not know anything about unions except public employee unions like the one that i work for. bair into the benefits and health care. they resent that as well because we're not giving anything to them.

somehow, you have to bring in the old history. i was an intern at the united mine workers in the 1970's. it was great. you have to make it relevant to people today. their idea of a union worker is someone on an assembly line, a white guy in his 50s. you have to make it relevant to young people who work for different places. you have to be on facebook and twitter. you need to make the democrats look like they're respecting you. johnson was always talking with someone else. he did not do anything without checking with the unions. when was the last time barack obama spoke to a union and had them out front for something that was not what he wanted, it was something that they wanted? he has to appear a union

functions. they have to appear that they are not in paris about union support. -- they have to appear that they are not embarrassed about union support. >> one of the interesting things about the gm discussion bailout was that it seemed like the left missed the bailout. there was intense messaging going on in that moment. it was not getting picked up in progress of audiences. -- it was not getting picked up in progressive audiences. people are the stuff about the bailout. they will get even angrier about the gm bailout. -- people were pissed off the

ballot -- off about the bailout. they will get even angrier about the gm bailout. the national conversation is far away from where in these to be. we have had an effort by a lot of people, powerful interests, house intellectuals to shift american perception of itself from these notions of right and solidarity to notions of efficiency. the efficiency of language is a cruel master. it can be used to slice apart everything all the time. because that language has been so wholesale adopted by the governing class of the country, it becomes difficult to make arguments within the language for unions.

you can do it. their arguments to be made for unions from that perspective. -- their arguments to be made for unions from the perspective. this language, this discourse of the efficiency so dominates the way we talk about the economy and workers that it makes it difficult to make the argument for unions in their own terms. so much ground has already been conceded before the conversation starts. by the time gm comes up, it is about how they make too much money. >> i am not sure how it happened hysterically -- historically, but sometimes people this is the people in unions with the companies they work for. people thought general motors cars were no good.

i remember in the 1990's the u ps strikes. and remember the teamsters. it was unpopular strike because people like -- it was a popular strike because people like ups. after that, some not so good things happen. that was with the teamsters union. it was a moment that you could see. this is a problem public workers have. if people do not like the government, this is the problems with the government. workers get blamed for things that are not their fault. they work hard to help the company the work force to succeed. it is a double-edged sword. >> let's go to the next question.

>> i am intrigued, especially because immigration has come to the forefront of the discussion. how you view labor and domestic policy in international terms? with more competition than we have seen before. the playing field is not home anymore. the immigration digitizing to that because people do not live at home. i am interested in how you frame the work to do -- you do in terms of changing the world view changing broadly. >> we live in a world where capital is incredibly mobile it goes where it wants to and make some investments on the basis of where to make the greatest

profits. some of us recognize that a long time ago. that is why our work is in building international solidarity. you cannot figure out how to build a domestic labor movement and think you are going to protect the interest of workers. you need to be thinking about what happens to workers everywhere in the world and how you can use the power of the workers wherever they are to constrain the power of capital. that is a hard one. this hard to get people to think beyond their own country. the globalized economy requires that we do so too di. we've spent six or seven years doing this. we have build platforms and other parts of the world. we have to know that the company we want to constrain here comes from elsewhere in the

world. i need to help french and japanese workers. i have spent a lot of time moving and around the world trying to build relationships with things outside of ourselves. you cannot ask the british labor movement to help you on something and not the will to help them in return. -- and not be willing to help them in return. there is beginning to be a sense that is mobile capital. we have to figure out how to constrained what it does. that means building relationships beyond our borders. we may need to build the relationship within our borders and then moving outside. >> the steel workers have been notably out there. that is in terms of pushing the envelope. there were workers tried to

organize a french-based company. a lot of the work of the labor movement is to get something like a global framework agreement with these multi- national companies many of the private sector workers in the world are with security guard companies. a lot of these companies are owned by european conglomerates. a lot of the work of the labor movement and gerry's union in particular has been to try to get agreements locally with these companies. steel workers are part of the global works council with the largest maker. they have language that affects the organizing rights of workers in west africa as well as here. they are running behind business. business went from being local

to national in this country. that was in the late 19th century. unions did not catch up until 1/3 of the way through the 20th century. it is going global now for a number of decades. labor is trying to catch up. >> we really need to talk about trade laws. in forcing and strengthening the tree falls is key here. we've looked building a global labor movement. that has always been a priority. it was interesting to me how different the same company treated its work force overseas than what they did in the u.s. when we collaborated with our sisters and brothers overseas, it was an outrage. our numbers are shrinking. we are not as strong in the

union movement. i want to touch and the woman who raised the question about rebranding. we need to do that with the entire labor movement. we need to do that internationally as well. i will give one example of that. the perception out there with gm with a lot of people thought the union workers were lazy and just wanted to punch a clock. they get paid for not working. there are these perceptions that take on the life of their own. we had our own issues with perception. at one point, our union leadership decided to take it head on. we developed a code of excellence. we wanted to get back to our reputation of being the best trained electricians on the face of the planet. our training programs are the best.

we did that with attitude, productivity, performance, skills. even the simplest thing would not using your cell phone when you were working were wearing inoffensive t-shirt on the job, these are the things that people look at. they decided they want to use of union workers because they build the best skills and products to the table. >> i think there are two elephants in the room that no one has talked about one is the positive perception of unions. you often hear about corruption and mob ties. you hear about how reagan fired air traffic controllers. and you have to wonder how to combat the perceptions the unions are corrupt. do you think the solidarity movement's will be up in time to combat the tea party movement

in 2010? >> comments? >> this notion of inviting perception has mystified me. i am sure everyone on the panel would agree. for whatever reason, there is the thought that unions are step back in the industrial age -- stock back in the industrial age in the league records and coal miners and that is it. we represent scientists, professional athletes, and actors. the negative perception and stereotyping continues to exist with the corruption and the mob and all of that. i am here to tell you and i am here to symbolize that the labor movement is changing. it is not your father's lee movement. we're opening our doors to young

people, women, more professionals. unemployed workers, people of color. it is a new day. >> we've got to get better at putting out a different kind of image of the labor movement. we have to get better than having a real conversation about the plight of working people, what unions are doing about it, and what we still need to do to improve the increasingly ugly plight of workers. that is one thing. the other thing i would say is that a lot of workers want unions anyway. just know that. we have managed to organize huge numbers of workers. workers want unions. employers do not want them to have it. part of our problem of the moment is how we stop all of the appalling activities on the part of businesses trying to proof

themselves against unionization. a lot of workers want unionization. the perception out there and gets promoted. the other side is to know that one of the things we should publicize is all of the things that business and their cohorts in politics do to stop workers from getting what they want. that is to build unions. >> it is the only place you can be discriminated against, if you want to be a union member. >> let's ask people to speak to that if they want to in the frame of the next question. >> i wanted to continue with this discussion in a slightly different direction.

i would agree that humans can serve as an authentic voice -- that unions can serve as shan authentic voice for working and non-working people. i am also thinking that it has to get the voice when directly -- more directly into the mainstream press. that will help to represent unions in a different way. when i open ope "the washington post," i am amazed the your column is even in there. [laughter] do you see a future for labor journalism? >> i gave a talk to something

called the international labor communicators association. that was right before the last afl-cio convention in pittsburgh. and to talk about the state of working america or the state of journalism -- i could talk about the state of working america or the state of journalism. where they come together is the state of labor journalism tyria. i would show up a certain things in there would be 25 or 30 people from different parts of the press. when something happens of national significance now, i call my buddy and ask if he is going. if i do not go, that is 30% of the press corps that is not going to be there. [laughter] a thing is interesting how the recession will affect newspapers.

-- i think it is interesting how the recession will affect newspapers. barbara and i were talking about this before the latpanel starte. as journalism became more of a professional track, a lot of the people knew edit newspapers and right for them share the perception that it was a blue- collar thing that is dying. there is no interest and why should we cover it and so on. maybe the fact that journalists now find themselves as endangered as any steel worker could have some kind of affect on increasing this kind of coverage. it is not just the institution of unions. it has to do with the general plight of workers. it should be a beat the american

papers are on all the time now. the plight of the unemployed and semi--employed workers is not going to get better anytime soon. those of us who have some voice in what gets covered need to raise it long and loud on the question of reviving the kind of coverage. >> a quick observation on the tea party. they caught us as aware as they did still sort of embarrass me. -- that they caught us as unaware as they did still sort of embarrasses me. you would think that they overwhelmed these hearings and that there were huge numbers of

them. the truth of the matter is that there was not. the truth of the matter is that after awhile when we caught on and started oveorganizing response, we overwhelmed them. this thing that was not so big got huge amounts of coverage. it was brilliantly orchestrated. they took a page from our own book. we need to do that ourselves. we need to go to these hearings. we need to organize. we stopped doing some of it. they grabbed it. they conducted themselves to a bigger conversation -- connected themselves to a bigger conversation and amplified. we tried to stop them and did nothing to amplify what we did. we were not acting like a movement. we were acting like we were lobbying on the scenes. we have to go out and organize. we then have to figure out how to present ourselves to the

larger public about a conversation about our insistence. >> i strongly believe it is an inflection point in recent american politics. it is not the election or inauguration barack obama or health care. it is the bank bailout. there was a rising cost of progressivism the was hacked to pieces by the bailout. we've not wrestled with the legacy of what the bank bailout did. it so fundamentally changed the basis of society's order. that is the success is rewarded and merit wins out. the psychological trauma of the

bailout continues to ripple through society. if the tea party is one manifestation of that. -- i think the two-party is one manifestation of that. the potency cannot be overstated. -- i think the tea party is one manifestation of that. the potency cannot be overstated. >> they are not organized -- we're not smart enough to do something about that. >> there is a ann ad out there. it is remarkable. it is paid for by a shadowy group. it is clearly the bankers. the whole and is about how you

have to kill financial reform because it will affect institutional billet's. it is his hardcourt message about killing a financial reform bankrolled by the banks. >> the problem is more serious and long-lasting for the tea party. the last four years, we have been a conservative country. the default assumption is that government cannot do anything right. -- the last four years, we've been a conservative country. -- the last 40 years, we've been a conservative country in the default assumption is that government cannot do anything right. in the 1930's, there were movements kind of like the tea party. they wanted the government to be stronger. it wanted the government to bail out the people and rescue

income. there were demagogic and told a lot of lies. they did not like what people. the problem wagoes to what was said at the beginning of the conversation. labor and the progressive movement has to change the in the logical construct in this country -- change the ideological construct in this country. bush's failure had so much to do with barack obama being elected. conservatives think they will not claim bush who will claim barack obama. that is positive to us and also a problem. people do not want to identify with the government as an abstraction.

le>> let's take the question. >> my question is about immigration reform. the focus is the money 12 million undocumented workers. it is significant but also polarizing. -- the focus is on the 12 million undocumented workers. it is significant because of polarizing. are you going to focus on the impact on wages. to a thing that could result in more comprehensive immigration reform. -- i think that could result in a more convincing if immigration reform. >> they do polling and focus groups. they are not going to say and run ads about how you won the

birth lottery being born in the u.s. [laughter] they are developing a battery of messages that are effected. one is focusing on the employers, and how hogging a pool of workers outside the law in suppoins of purging of the w. >> labor and the left to been facing cultural problems in the last 30 years. there is the importance of providing direct service to individuals. that is providing an underpinning for the left. i think we do ourselves a

disservice in forgetting about the democratic machines in the cities. you could go the lawyer in that city services and whenever he needed. we forget all of this stuff. it is important thing to think about on left if the claimant cannot bring people in. there is a reason for it. david a., we're not there to help someone when they cannot get to the welfare office. -- day today, we're not there to help someone when they cannot get to the welfare office. the working family party in new york is trying to deal with this. a lot of people are doing this work. we have a national organization. that is the difference. do you see this going on anywhere? is this the way forward for us? >> i do see it going on some

plays. i was part of creating the working families party in new york. i believe that workers in sight of their community ought to figure out ways to deal with the issues of those communities. we fought 1199 in new york to deal with mortgages all sorts of stuff. we tried to build a movement that thought about the whole worker and tried to abdicate on its behalf. that needs to happen more broadly than just us. some of us have thought that for a long while and try to figure out. live also thought that you have got just organize workers at the point production. you organize them in their community. you organize them abaround things they care about. those things go hand in hand. hiwe do not just in collective

bargaining and that is the industry. it is thaif that is all you do,e will not change things. help them in their community figure out co-ops as a way to strengthen the lives of working people. that is what the labor movement is about. >> that goes back to my point about the unemployed people. i am trying to get some commitments from you tonight. when a person is laid off, the union should not say goodbye. they should say here is how we will help you now. here are the services we are providing. working americans is desperate. this is my last chance to get my last point in? i am following up on michael's

comment. i think we have to be prepared to be more critical of our president than we have been. we have been feeling a little better since health reform. one thing that is absolutely hobbling with progressives is that they do not want to undermine the man. i do not want to either. i like him. i feel like he is a family member in a remote way. [laughter] on the other hand, i am not going to get into an argument with some of the folks in this country. it is part of the right-wing populism did i will not do it if i have to defend barack obama in the bank bailout. he knows a lot more to the

unions -- ketose --he owes a lot more to the unions then he will -- then you will ever collect. now you were just going to sit back and take it? even the rescue of his health plan was a little bit servile. after not challenging him around single payer or the public option, it was that we were going to come to the rescue of this piece of crap legislation. to have any kind of self- definition as progressives or the labor movement, sometimes we're going to have to cut the man lives. -- to cut the man loose.

>> i am not sure this is the point. >> i will do it. [laughter] >> it is about what we can organize out there and what we can not. we did not. barack obama is not what i would liken to be as the president. on the of the hand, there is more willingness from him to do that. we need to organize on the ground to support it. >> the best thing you can do for the man is to give him some left opposition. that is something we can do for him. >> i think the best thing we can do for the man is organized a progressive movement around the issues that we care about. i suspect if we do it, we will give a much more interesting barack obama then we have had up until now.

-- we will get a much more interesting barack obama than we have had up until now >. >> the key difference between katrina, the iraq war, and a series of debacle's that have unfolded over the last generation, those to be used to discredit the republican party and conservative movement. the bank bailout, everyone owned a piece of it. barack obama, henry paulson carrie. to the discretdegree that the discrediting happen, it was a moment. it moved from discrediting the republican party to discrediting the state. >> i would like to take another question.

>> in terms of representation in then to organize the and the movement, how do you propose to remind people is not teach them that labor is a social reality and not just a movement or lobby? it is something that concerns them from the moment they start earning wages and supporting themselves. at this point, i do not feel like there is that sentiment in the public. i have a second question. it is about a broader solidarity movement, specifically the environmental movement. were you going to tell the workers -- what are you going to tell workers around that

movement? is now the best time or worse time to ask the question of those unemployed or anxiously employed people around oil companies and mining? is now time to change the way they are employed? is now time to organize in their employment to change the way things will be when they are at the end of their resources? >> one of the mistakes we've made in the past with the labor movement in reaching out to young people is to not actually talk to young people and listen to their issues. we need to use messaging that is compatible with their own voice. we're just now starting to do that. one thing the afl-cio is working on is organizing regional forums across the country to hear from young unionists and our partners

in the progressive movement. there are allied groups in the communities. young people coming together for us to listen to them. their issues are different from what we are used to in the union movement. work has changed. a lot of these young folks are not working the same job for 30 years with one employer. we need to become more flexible to appeal to younger audience. that is absolutely a the top of our priority list. this is building to a national summit. we're scheduled in june to kick off a long-term movement. we do not want to be a flash in the pan where people feel good and that is if it.

in elections, and come together and work together and then it falls off. this is going to be a lasting, long terms, sustained effort on the part of the afl-cio to figure out what we can do to become relevant young workers. is a young workers bill of rights? we want the young workers telling us what is tangible. that is one to the point of the summit. -- that is going to be the point of the summit. >> we're coming down to the final minutes. i want to offer the panelists the chance to give us their final thoughts. i would also like to ask the question to get that started. i think this was a remarkable conversation today. it is the kind of conversation we need to have more of. what often happens with in the labor movement with conversations like this -- this

often happens inside the labor movement with conversations like this. we do not always good to have an open conversation the way it is happen tonight. how can we do more of this? how can conversations like this help us to get where we need to go? >> i have come away convinced that we should organize the unemployed. [laughter] [applause] i learned that. [laughter] of close on the question raised by the last person who bounced a question. -- i would close on the question raised by the last person who

asked a question. that is a huge part of what the union does. how many people here have a job? how many people can remember the last time the referred to themselves out loud as a worker? [laughter] i think that identity has vastly diminished. i think it is something to reclaim. i would be the worst person to organize ever. i do not like conflict. i always think my employer is acting in good faith. we still have a union. there is still management. the identity and way of thinking

about the world is not come out of nowhere. it is a big challenge to think about how we inculcate that. >> it is not just a matter of thinking of yourself as a worker. it is really the concept of solidarity. we have power collectively we do not have individually. the only manifestation of that is not in the afl c 0-cio. many workers of their own associations. there is the tradition of workers finding solidarity among themselves. that is our secret on the progressive in union side. that is this solidarity. when tglenn beck has gone out os

way to puncture the idea of community. the idea of connectedness between human beings is what we represent. human beings have solved the problems in the past but it has always involved coming together in some cooperative fashion. >> there's no way to deepen democracy will have social justice without building a movement. it is our job to help people think about that. i cannot of a movement that was really about progressive, social change. i wound up in the labor movement because i thought that the way to get social justice was by building a workers' movement

inside. i still believe that. a lot of people do not believe that with me. it is my job to go and persuade people the building is social justice movement requires building a labor movement in figuring out together how to get something different. >> i joined the labor movement because i realized that acting as individuals, our voices are not a strong as when we come together collectively. that is what the union movement is about. i hope we can appeal to young people to realize that. it is a big problem. those of you in this room know that. but friends and relatives do not. that is a challenge ahead of us. we need to reach out and build community alliances. that is where our strength comes in. if we do not get our own act to gather in the progressive

movement -- together in the progressive movement we will not get it done. if we can organize ourselves with a progressive movement more effectively, i think we will be invested. -- i think we will be in good stead. i want to hear from the young people in the audience. that is the most important thing on my agenda. the most important thing on my agenda was listening to what was on the minds of young people. i want to hear from you. >> sometimes the sense of solidarity on the left roughly defined takes on the ethnic pascast that we're accustomed tn the right. in the 1990's as labor gained a latino face in los angeles, it

became apparent there is more support for an investment in the labor movement from the latino community there. there was a ballot measure in the late 1990's. it was an initiative on whether unions would have to get everyone to sign off for political contributions. the exit polling showed a huge level of union support within the latino community. southern california is a big community. that was largely because the labor movement meant something because of the janitors'struggle in other things. it meant something to this community that was not the case outside the community. this gets back to the question of journalists entering the spanish language press gave a great deal more coverage to labor struggles and the english language press in southern

california. there was a way in for the broader community that did not seem to exist for white and black workers. a lot of discussion is a chicken and egg discussion about what comes first. do you build a movement or do the organizing? there is no right or wrong answer to that. it is clear that the effect of certain campaigns like justice for janitors was the thing that got things rolling. i do not know if it was the chicken or the egg. it was the first mover. somehow, we need to find some first movers. >> not so long ago, we have a wonderful example of solidarity.

that was the barack obama campaign for president. it was not building the united autoworkers in the 1930's. some of those who worked in swing states like northern virginia experienced this. my wife and i and a lot of girlfriend-- our friends workedn office where there were people speaking by official languages. there were people from different organizations. there were people of different ages. there were a lot of young people. a lot of us felt like this would continue. it is not that easy. that should remind us that even though it was in perfect -- not perfect and half of what to do

with barack obama we should forget we have not forgotten how to do that. it was a coalition. it was an example of solidarity. the question is how we do that long term with the more difficult issues. it is important to remember that we did do that. it was a "yes, we can"moment. we need to figure out how it happened and how to continue it. it was very much like the moment that the right had with the ronald reagan campaign. i want to thank the panelists and everyone in the audience for being so enthusiastic and realistic. it was really inspiring to be part of this. thank you. [applause]

[captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> if you want to find out more about the kalmanovitz initiative, go to the web site. >> next, sarah palin speaks of the southern leadership conference. we will be live at the conference later today. speakers will include ron paul in the gop chairman. ♪

♪ >> what is more ridiculous right now of them american politics? >> the gregory brothers have become viral hit-makers. . . >> hello. thank you, new orleans. thank you h. it is so good to be

>> thank you very much. thank you, friends. thank you. thank you so much. it is so good to be here in the big easy. thank you so much. please have a seat. i am so honored to get to be here in this nice crowd of friends. i am enjoying getting to know the people of new orleans. the last time i was here was for an oil and gas conference. now, being here, hearing the inspiring stories of people who have rebuilt and restored after katrina is very inspiring. i want to take a moment to thank this amazing city, and especially the people who are working here, serving guests with public safety, making us feel so at home. thank you, new orleans. i knew i should not say "you betcha" after that. go saints. good, patriotic people here.

do you love your freedom? [applause] if you love your freedom, then think of that. i know we are going to do that. if you are serving in uniform today, raise your hand. we want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts. thank you for your service. [applause] yes, the last time i was here, oil and gas conference, and now we are here on april 9th, america's tax freedom day. there was a piece earlier this week that explained that americans now spend about 100 days per year working for the government before we start earning our own money that we get to spend. that does not sound right to me. that sounds like we are working for government instead of government working for us.

it is time to reverse that. it seems like we are really learning what the president's slogan meant. when you turn the "yes we can" into a sentence, you get, "yes we can spread the wealth around." "yes, we can reform programs we can not pay for and stick the next generation with the bill." "yes, we can put our country back on a track that is not a good track, because it is going to quadruple our national debt"" "yes, we can fill one sixth of the private economy with unfunded mandates." these are just a few of the domestic accomplishments. in foreign policy, we have the makings of the obama doctrine, which is coddling enemies and

alienating allies. they will not bring up human rights with china because "they already know what they are going to say." they offered tepid sanctions on north korea and gold stars and cookies to the sudanese president. they can barely muster a word of support to those in iran seeking freedom, and women seeking rights. now, the president, with all of the vast nuclear experience that he acquired as a community organizer -- [applause] and as a part time senator, and as a full-time candidate, all that experience, we see what he

has accomplished to date with north korea and iran. meanwhile, this administration alienates our friends. they treated hamid karzai poorly and were upset when he responded in kind. they have created a major breach with israel, our closest ally in the middle east. let's remind the president, jerusalem is not a settlement, and israel is our friend. north korea and iran want nukes. yes we can alienate allies and coddle our enemies. someone needs to tell our

president that it just because we can, does not mean we should. [applause] so, now they are revising that slogan for 2010. they have done a $2 trillion health-care takeover. they are proclaiming loudly "yes we did." i would not be so proud to slap that on a bumper sticker, not just yet. i think conservatives can come up with slogans people will like better than that, like, "repeal and replace." and, "how is that hopey changey thing working out for you now?" and my favorite, "do not retreat, reload," and that is not a call for violence.

[applause] [applause] that, of course, means take an opportunity to engage in that debate. it is not a call for violence. no one is calling for such a thing, and the media is so desperate to discredit the tea party movement that they will make that up, but no one is calling for violence. the obama policy will leave us more under the thumb of big government. it is out of touch, out of date, and they are running out of time. [applause]

americans across this great country are standing up and speaking out for common sense conservative solutions. they are telling washington, back off. some of us registered republicans are what we used to call reagan democrats. some, like my friends and family, including my own husband, are independents, lovers of this great country, proud, but concerned about the path we are now on. all of them are deeply concerned about our country, and frankly, some of them are a little bit skeptical, concerned about our party, about our own people at the gop. for years, for americans who believe in conservative principles, the growth of government was disconcerting. as governor of alaska, i vetoed

some of obama's stimulus funds. my veto of the those funds was overridden by a republican-led legislature. people did not want to believe that this free money would not magically work out. in the words of the bill clinton "this is the biggest fairy tale i have ever seen." of course, that was before obama was elected, so we do not know the context, but i will take it in the context that i want it. [applause] today the grand old party needs to have its eyes wide open. we are getting back to our grand old roots, and there is no shame in being "the party of n""

if their ideas violate our values, and our constitution. what is wrong with being "the party of no?" or, better said by the governor of this state, we are the party of "hell no." going forward, we have to keep supporting those republicans in congress who are leading the loyal opposition, putting the liberals on notice. government overreach did not begin with the obama administration, but it will end with the obama administration. [applause] because friends, truly, the party of lincoln and reagan is back.

we have our eyes wide open going into these midterm elections. we are the party of ideas, and with articulate alternatives, we will prove a better way for america. in that spirit, let me hit on something that has been making headlines lately. i know it well. it is important to all of us. it is energy policy. this is not just about heating our homes and keeping the lights on. there is an inherent link between energy and security, energy and prosperity, energy and freedom. we need affordable domestic, reliable, energy policy. there is such a big difference between how the republicans and the democrats want to accomplish that goal. the left has waged a war on natural resources.

they have levied new fees on domestic production because they think we are over-producing oil and gas. liberals want to stop hydraulic fracturing to produce cleaner- burning gas. they are locking up more federal land that is filled with god-given reserves of oil, gas and uranium. even if you were lucky enough to finally drill into mine, good luck. if you want to build a pipeline, it can take years to get a federal permit. the left's plan is devastating, but simple. at least they are honest about this one. they want you to pay more so that you will consume less. the call it cap and trade. i call it cap and tax.

whatever you call it, it is going to kill jobs, production, productivity, and the work ethic in america that we have grown to love. it will pass a greater burden on to every next generation, our small businesses, and our working people. the left thought you would think it was a bad idea, so they want to skip the legislative process. let the epa do the dirty work. like so much of their agenda, they have decided what is best for us. even if we do not like it, can not afford it, and it makes no sense, they will do it anyway, because "yes we can." if you are not on the white

house e-mail list, this may come as a surprise, all this energy stuff. the president can give us some pretty nice speeches, and he makes it sound like he is going to enact energy policies that americans can support, but when you really tune in, he stands by while the administration and the democrats in congress eliminate things one by one. it is smoke and mirrors. he talks about supporting nuclear power, but where was he when his interior secretary withdrew 1 million acres from uranium production in arizona? we did not expect the administration to back them up on that for purely political reasons, not safety, not

ideological, not environmental reasons, but political reasons. you cannot have it both ways. you cannot cut our options at both ends of the fuel cycle. [applause] likewise, the left may tell you that they are for renewable resources like wind, solar, hydro, and that is just great, but god forbid you try to put a windmill in nantucket sound. somebody may see it. a gecko may bump into one. oh, my! [laughter] we saw this bait and switch with offshore drilling. the president gave a big speech at andrews air force base. the only thing missing from that ceremony was the soundtrack

from "top gun" and joe biden in a flight suit. that is next. [laughter] since that event, the spinners have been spinning that one as a huge victory for energy security. anything sounds good when you say it in front of a fighter jet, but stop and think about what happened the next day. after hearing a good pro- development gop plan, the obama administration halted development, delayed until 2012. that will give environmentalists more time to sue, environmentalists so concerned about the world's environment that they would rather see less responsible countries develop resources than have us use ours.

this gives them more time to sue. meanwhile, the northeast atlantic coast is closed. drilling in alaska is cancelled. drilling along the pacific coast, with cleaner-burning gas waiting to be tapped, now that is prohibited. now we need more study. these areas have been studied to death. the interior department has done more than 50 studies, but decided the government needs more. as a governor, and as oil and gas commissioner, and as chair of the nation's interstate oil and gas commission, i have seen many, many studies. let us send the white house the

message that we can save time and money and announce, there is oil and gas down there, and we can get it safely and responsibly. we do not need more studies. we need more action. [applause] because energy produced in america is security for america. it is jobs for american workers, jobs that cannot be outsourced. let's drill baby, drill, not stall, baby stall. [applause] i had to throw that one in there one last time for you guys. [applause]

kicking it old school. [applause] also, folks, think about what the administration did. they banned more offshore drilling than they allowed. the epa has put us on a path toward sweeping regulation of greenhouse gases, our farms, our factories, our businesses and our vehicles. in other words, they will destroy jobs and impose a new national tax on all of us. that does not sound like a good policy to me. it sounds like the president is trying to pay [no audio] for his tax scheme coming up. i hope someone will tell him he

is not going to find bipartisanship down there. once you wade through all the hype, and the clouds have parted, and the seas have calmed, it is clear that the administration is giving us more of the status quo. remember, reagan said that "status quo" is latin for "the mess we are in." we cannot wait for the next presidential election to get it right. we have to do it now. our country needs the jobs and the security. we rely on these domestic sources that production here will provide now. republicans need to hit the road in 2010 and show americans what a real "all of the above" energy policy looks like. we need a plan that puts all of

the options on the table, because relying on foreign regimes for our energy needs makes us less secure. it makes us beholden to these countries, and it costs us hundreds of billions of dollars. we have to say no when it comes to something this important. we need to give it all we've got. that means, drill here, drill now. the ops must be open for development, with revenue sharing for the state. on shore, it is time to stop ignoring the obvious options that we have. that includes anwar and my home state. i love the way anne coulter put it. she explained that our caribou are doing fine.

they are breeding and migrating. anne coulter said, "mr. caribou, you may have to take one for the team." no matter where the drill bit hits, we have to streamline the permitting process to cut through the red tape and the dozens and dozens of permits and licenses that are needed to tap into our natural resources. as we produce more here at home, yes, we must waste less. we must use our energy more efficiently. we can encourage people to do that through tax incentives and by setting standards with companies. with renewable, let us encourage innovation. washington should not be in the business of picking winners and losers in anything, but they should not be picking winners and losers in this energy

debate. we should allow technologies and feedstocks to be competing against these others, instead of competing for washington's affection. they need flexibility. they need to see what works best. shoot, look at texas. i said, "shoot." i am sorry. [laughter] that state is already home to the largest wind farm. they are doing it right in texas. let's not use this snake oil

science stuff that is based on a global warming, that came down -- there was a revelation that some of these scientists were playing political games. a governor who said it was bogus nearly got run out of town by environmentalists, but now we feel a little bit vindicated. we have found out there was some snake oil science involved. the great innovation that will replace conventional resources is not here yet, but it will be someday. until that day, we need our domestic resources to meet our needs. that alternative will be discovered. it will be here, and it will be americans who find it. [applause] we invented the modern oil well. we invented the telephone.

we invented the airplane and the personal computer. we put a man on the moon. we invented the internet, unless that was al gore too. but it was american ingenuity that made this country great. we have the resources, now all we need is the political will. in other words, there is nothing stopping us from achieving energy independence that a good old-fashioned election cannot fix. [applause] and the election is only seven

months away. [applause] the time to articulate the alternatives, it is now. from now until november, when they say, "yes we can," we stand up and say, "oh no you don't." when they try to restrict freedoms, we will prove that common sense conservatives have a better way. this is the party of reagan and lincoln. [applause] this is the party that put an end to slavery. this is the party that declared that it is morning in america again. this is the party that led us to victory in the cold war with the firm directives, "we win, you lose." this is the party, knowing that america's finest men and women

in uniform are doing good throughout the world, and this is nothing to apologize for. freedom is a god-given right and it is worth fighting for. [applause] this is the party that stands for competition and equality and responsibility and respect for life and liberty. and this is the party that will usher in a new era of prosperity, new opportunities for all. this is our party, and we are writing a new chapter in this proud history. it starts with us, and it can start today. i say we stand together and take our country back. thank you so much, friends, for being part of the solution. god bless you, and god bless america. [applause] [applause]

>> also speaking at the southern republican leadership conference was louisiana governor, bobby jindal. this is about 25 minutes. [applause] >> thank you very much. thank you for the very warm reception. thank you. i want to thank you for that generous introduction. he is the great new senator. i want to welcome our guests from all over this great country

to the great city of new orleans and the great state of louisiana, home to the world champion new orleans saints. we invite you to extend your stay, enjoy the beautiful weather, enjoy our great food, our great weather, our great culture. if you would spend a little extra money in our hotels and restaurants, we would appreciate it. just a word to rnc staffers, you might want to stay away from burgonet street, just a word of advice. -- from bourbon street, just a word of advice. let me be clear. i am not running for president of the united states of america. i have the job i want. here's our happy to report that louisiana is doing better than ever before.

since i am not running for president, i can speak very directly to you, without fear of offending you. i am not under any pressure to make anyone happy other than the people of louisiana. all i have to do for them is be the best governor of louisiana that i can be. people who know me know that i like lists. i started off with a top-10 list of things i thought needed to be shared today, but due to budget cuts it is only a top eight list. the first item i want to share is that bill clinton was wrong. you are probably surprised i said this, but bill clinton was wrong. he said, "the era of big government is over." but it is not over, it is upon us.

we are suffering the worst economic recession since the great depression. in a in the face of this crisis, president barack obama, nancy pelosi, and harry reid are making the problems far, far worse. let's be honest. president barack obama ran a great campaign. it had soaring rhetoric and inspired millions with the sweet-sounding promises of the change we need. within that campaign they spoke relentlessly about "bottom-up solutions." here we are, just over a year into it, and boy are we paying the bill before it now. it turns out the change they had in mind was the largest expansion of the old, industrial age style, top down on big government that any of us have ever seen. and that is only in one year. we need to bring the truth to bill clinton's words. we need to end the era of big

government. [applause] the second thought i want to share with you is that power breeds arrogance. in a democracy, one of the most important jobs of any elected leader is to listen to the people. it is fundamental. from time to time, you may have a notion that appeals to you but that the people do not agree with. i have had some notions like that myself. when that happens, you try to persuade the people, but if you fail to persuade them, you accept the will of the people. that is basic civics class 1 01. it seems to me that this group in washington may have failed civics. they completely failed to convince the american people that their government health care overhaul was a good idea, and they know they failed. they do not care. they did it anyway.

to me, that is the definition of the arrogance of power. failing to listen to the will of the people is not leadership, it is arrogant. they basically told the voters of, "we know better than you. you small people who do not recognize the genius of our health care plan, you do not matter. we are going to do it anyway, and there is nothing you can do about it.' well, and we may not be able to take away their arrogance, but in november, we can take away their power. [applause] you know, the president is not up for reelection this fall. he knows he may lose seats in congress, and he may be fined with that. speaker pelosi is from san francisco.

she may actually get the votes for bankrupting the country. harry reid may just be collateral damage to the white house. my point is this. there is a debate going on in these very rooms, to repeal or not to appeal. here is my thought. one of the things that got the republican party in the trouble was of a failure to stand on principle. [applause] railing against the growth of a government while you are actually in fact a growing and the government was not such a good idea. it turns out the american people are not much for hypocrisy. let us be honest. the american people said to the republican majority, they basically fired them. the republican majority got fired, and they got fired with cause. the same republican party started defending spending we

never would have expected -- never would have accepted had it been proposed by the democrats. so, to repeal or not to repeal. we have spent the last year doing everything we could to stop this experiment with the nation's health-care system. we protested, we rally, we prevented -- we presented alternative ideas. now it has passed. there are some in our party who do not want to repeal of this experiment. we spent a year working and rallying against this bill. now, some actually ask the question whether we should try to repeal it. only in washington would this be a hard question. [laughter] it is pretty simple to me. let your yes b yes, let your and no piano -- let your yes be yes, let your no be no.

this health care experiment was a bad idea the day before they crank it down our throats, and it was a bad idea the day after. this is no time to be timid. timidity is not leadership. we cannot give up. we cannot give in. we have to stand on principle. we must repeal of this bill. [applause] that brings me to the fourth thought i wanted to share with you. i wanted to share a few thoughts on being called "the party of no." that is what nancy pelosi likes to call us. some of us do not like that. it hurt our feelings, and of course, we do have good ideas. let's be honest. elections have consequences. we control approximately nothing in washington right now. our ideas are not going to get

a feel -- a fair hearing until we make a game this november. in the meantime, we have a duty to stand up for what we believe in and fight with everything we have. newton gingrich said we need to become the "party of yes." he is right, when it comes to conservative principles. our ideas have been pushed aside by the democratic majority. but let's be clear. a bad idea is a bad idea, and shame on us if we are afraid to say so. when it comes to the experiment on our nation's health care, we should not be the party of no, we should be the party of health know -- hell no. [applause]

the fifth idea i want to share with you is that the debt we have accumulated as a nation is immoral. that is an inconvenient truth if there ever was one. of course company -- of course, sometimes as individuals or companies you have to borrow money to get ahead. but there is a difference between an individual being willing to take a risk to pursue his or her dream and the government borrowing money it knows full well it cannot repay. we are not just burdening our children, we are burdening their children as well. every single generation of americans has left to their children more opportunity than a week -- then we inherited from our parents. we must not be the first generation to not do that because we are spending our

children's and our grandchildren's inheritance and today. [applause] enough is enough. it is time to cut up washington post a credit card. it is time to stop this debt. the sixth idea i wanted to share with you today is about spending. a very famous louisiana and married to an even more famous louisianan coined the phrase, "it is the economy stupid." well today, it is the spending, and it certainly is stupid. politicians stop about sports -- politicians talk about slowing the rate of spending. to make america prosperous again, we need americans willing to utter a few words, "cut

government. " [applause] in louisiana, we have submitted a budget that is $5 billion less than it was last year. this will give my opponent the opportunity to attack me, but the reality is we only had three options. the first was, we thought about just printing money like they do in washington. it turned out that is not legal. we cannot do that at the state level. we were not going to do that anyway. the second option, there is always the option to raise taxes. let me be clear about one thing. if you hear nothing else, hear this, as long as i am the governor, we will not raise taxes in louisiana. [applause] if you come from a state today

that is considering raising taxes right now, i hope you hear this message and moved down to louisiana. we would love to have you. here is our plan. we have thought of the novel idea of forcing the government to cut back just like families have to do. have you ever noticed that the government wanted you to adjust your lives while it continues to grow? let us be clear. no state or country has ever taxed, spend, or borrowed its way into prosperity, and america will not be the first country to disprove that. this spending has got to stop. [applause] states are being crushed by the federal government. as a governor i can tell you about the hidden costs in this health care bill they passed that are being shipped to the state, and that is just the beginning. they ignored the second

amendment in washington, and i do not think they have even read the 10th amendment. they have no problem trampling on individual and states' rights, and they are certainly not going to stop with health care. even governor schwarzenegger has spoken out to say that the ramifications of this bill are unsustainable for his state or any state. it is a clever way of shifting the burden. many states will deal with it by raising taxes. again, if you do not like that, move here. we have plenty of room, great food, and as you can see, great weather. [applause] it is about 70 degrees year- round here in louisiana. it never gets hotter. [laughter] my eighth and final pocket is that entitlement spending threatens to kill the american dream. social security and medicare are in a constant state of near

bankruptcy. they are slowly strangling our economy. with this in mind, what do they do in washington? they pass a brand new, $2 trillion spending bill pipi. but speaker pelosi assures us of this will actually save us money. if anybody here believes that, raise your hand. we have a couple of louisiana and bridges i would like to sell you. i do not see any hands, the motion failed. this will lead to more taxes, less of liberty. it is another step toward european, not american style of government. i would like to finish up by giving you a small taste of what we are doing in louisiana. every state, every local, every

government across this country is facing challenges due to the recession. everyone had a fundamental choice to make. do we make the hard decisions within the government or to be transferred this burden to the working families, the businesses in our state and in our great country? we have made the decision in a louisiana that we are not going to transfer this burden to the families and businesses of louisiana. instead, we will make the tough choices and cut government. [applause] but make no mistake, that is the fundamental challenge everyone of us faces. we proposed a balanced budget, 18% smaller than last year. we will have six files and your government funded positions. we have set priorities. we have consolidated functions and agencies. we are funding those things we need to move our state forward. in other words, we are

tightening our belts. some will argue that there is another way, that we do not have to make hard choices. indeed, there is an example of that. it is called the washington way. they continue to print money, to borrow money from china. the national debt by the end of this year will exceed $14 trillion. by the end of this decade, $26 trillion. that is a point of belsen dollars for every person in this room by the end -- that is a $45 thousand for every person in this room by the end of this year. if our country continues to spend our children's and our grandchildren's money, we will see the value of our dollar go down. this is not a sustainable path. here in louisiana we are doing everything we can to adopt a different way. we are not going down at the

washington way. we call it the louisiana way. we are fighting for our people's @ rights, despite what they do in washington. we have asked our attorney general to join in that legislation in his -- litigation, we are also supporting legislation in our legislature to support our state's 10th amendment right to object to this health care legislation that has just been the past. [applause] -- just then passed. [applause] let us not about what is at stake. for the first time in history, our federal government is going to require us to purchase a product, good or service as a requirement of being an american. that has never been done before. it the 10th amendment means anything coming -- means

anything, we must challenge this legislation. we are making sure that louisiana taxpayer dollars are not used to it federalese support abortions -- used to fund federally supported abortions in an exchange that has been set up right here. we must take a stand for innocent human life. we must respect the president -- the president thethe precedent set by the hyde amendment. i talk to you as the governor of a state that is recovering from three hurricanes.

we did go to court -- we did go from 44th worst to first best in the country. [applause] we have said that who you know must not be more important than what you know when it comes to this great state. i have signed dozens of bills cutting taxes and extending a tax credit. [applause] we have a revamped our work force training program, offering a date when the guarantee, that our students will be ready for -- a day one guarantee, that our students will be ready to work on the first day.

we are now the third best state in the country for creating jobs. [applause] we had the second-best economic performance during the recession. we have had unemployment rates lower than the national average every single month of this recession. [applause] southern business development named louisiana and tennessee the top two states in the south when it comes to economic development. i could give you a long list of numbers and statistics. our credit rating has been upgraded to the highest it has ever been. after two decades, after 20 years of people leaving this state more quickly than they were moving in, we have now had three years in a row of more people moving to louisiana

rather than leaving louisiana. [applause] that means that our children, our grandchildren are returning home. others are returning home as well, realizing that there are opportunities to pursue the american dream right here in the bayou state. we started with the recognition of the government does not create wealth or jobs. it is our job to give people a new louisiana, so that our children and grandchildren can pursue their dreams right here at home. conservative ideas cannot work here in louisiana, and i know they can work in every state across this great country. [applause] we have a great challenges, but we have great opportunities. i know there are is the it -- i know there are skeptics out there. to them, i say, just look at what the new orleans saints have done. [applause]

after 43 long years -- [laughter] we had never even then it to the super bowl. most years, we did not even go to the playoffs. despite the odds, despite the experts, the st. showed that through hard work and team work, they could not only make it to the super bowl for the first time, but actually become a world super bowl champions. [applause] if the new orleans saints can do that, there is no doubt in my mind that louisiana can lead the country in economic development. we can become number one in education, quality of life and health care. if we can do that in louisiana, every state can adopt these kind of conservative solutions to face the challenges that confront us. we live in the greatest country in the history of the world. [applause]

i want to thank you before coming to new orleans for this conference. i want to thank you for your support for our local economy. more importantly than that, i want to thank you for your enthusiasm, your time, your hours of effort to make sure that this november we put our country back on the right track, that we continue to be the greatest country in the world, so that we leave more opportunity for our children and our grandchildren, and do not go the way of europe. may god continue to bless you and to bless this, the greatest country in the world. thank you very much. [applause] >> and texas and governor rick perry also spoke at the southern republican leadership conference. this is about 20 minutes. >> there was a certain republican governor who was being sworn in for the first

time in louisiana, so it is good to be here with bobby jindal. he is a guy with a big division for a remarkable state. we all are -- a big vision for a remarkable state. we are all the celebrating at the impact he has had on louisiana. but, years are not giving him credit for the super bowl victory. i cannot give it all to you body. when you think about it, it is hard to believe that it has been nearly five years since our state a experienced the one-two punch of hurricanes and rita and katrina. i remember the phone call clearly from bobby's credit censor -- bobby's predecessor. the voice was a foe of concern. she called up -- the voice was full of concern.

she called up and asked if we could take about 25 belsen people from louisiana who had to be moved -- 25,000 people from louisiana who had to be moved out of harm's way. the bible told us to love our neighbor, and i said bring them on. bring them onto the state of texas. and my goodness, did they come. they evacuated by plane, by car, by bus. i am sure they hitchhiked into the tapes -- into the state of texas. it could have just as well spend the governor of texas calling louisiana to ask for help. that is what makes this country great. having men and women and people like that.

all of those folks came over, and many of them went back to louisiana. but it is amazing how many people who came over and saw how things are in the the great state of texas and, and yes, you are about to get a chamber of commerce speech from me about how great texas is. i want to talk a little bit about why that is important, from the standpoint of having people like bobby jindal in office, an individual who really understands the importance of competition between states. why is important that on your eastern border where you have a great governor like haley barbour, who is putting in some powerful changes in that state, and we love to compete against each other. i want to get back to bobbie for

just a second, because i truly admire him. he is one of these leaders and that proves that great things can happen when you cut problems down to size and address them with common sense. you devise solutions that are based on its central, a conservative concepts, and you with -- on essentials, conservative concepts, and and you refused to compromise. i think one of the roles of a governor, and i certainly hope one of the roles of people who are engaged in this business of governing, we remind people on a regular basis that the role of government, but government's role is, is as servants, not as masters. it is as protectors, not as

providers. as the citizens of our country work to feed their families, pay their mortgages, and set aside something for the future, they are being told today that big daddy government has all the answers. that is what we are hearing from a washington, d.c. that is absolutely out of control. they are saying, "do not worry your pretty little head. we will take care of your needs. just stand back and let us take care of it. we will let you know what medical procedure you can have, how much of your earnings we are going to take to pay for it, and we will tell you how to educate your children." that is what we are hearing out of washington, d.c. today. there is an endless struggle going on between the left and the right, the conservatives and the liberals, between socialism and democracy. that is what is going on in this

country today. [applause] and i will tell you, the country is tilted in the wrong direction, and we need to focus on what really matters. [applause] i want to make sure that i have this out. type in the words "fired up," and text it to 9563. if you do that, we will keep you in tune with what you need to do to fight what is going on in washington. here is what happens. let me just put this in perspective. america is emerging from a fog that it found itself in. i was a pilot in the united states air force in a in the early 1970's, and one of the

great and beautiful things was flying out of the that fog, following the instruments, and seeing the runway show up just like it was supposed to. that was a comforting feeling. [laughter] america has been flying in a fog for too long. republicans got frustrated. they got frustrated because we elected men and women who said, "elect us and we will go to washington d.c. with an r behind our names, and when they went, we could not tell the difference between whether they were republicans or democrats. [applause] look, we should not sugarcoat it.

we need to talk about it, and unidentified men and women today, who really understand what the republican party is all about. i tell people, governing is pretty simple. there are some people in washington who think they need to do a whole bunch more than what i think they need to be doing. i am pretty much about three things in republican governing. a republican needs to be about having a strong military. [applause] let me tell you one and thing about it, we have got that right. we have the finest men and women in defending our freedoms around the world that we have ever had. [applause] my father was part of the group they called the "great generation." but we have men and women who are every bit as sacrificial, every bit as good, every bit as a selfless as those who came

back in the 1930's and 1940's. the second thing the government ought to do is secure our borders. the third is to deliver the mail on time. [laughter] that is it. those three things. one out of three is all we are getting right now, let me tell you. that is for sure. [laughter] until you can get those three right, how about leaving everything else alone. [applause] . . .

the 10th amendment says we ought to compete against each other. those principles, those conservative republican principles that have been put in place in the state of texas have created a powerful economy there. i think it goes without saying that in the state of texas, we are at the epicenter and apex of the states when it comes to the economy. you can look at what we've created there. i am an animal science major from the beloved texas a&m. but i get it about the principles of governing.

you do not have to be a ph.d. from harvard in political science to understand the principles of governing. number one, do not spend all the money. [applause] have a tax and regulatory policy that are fair and predictable. have a legal system that does not allow for over-suing. then have an accountable public school system that says to the job creators that this is a place that has a skilled work force. have a fair tax system, the regulatory system, and accountable public school system. then get out of the way government, and let the private sector do what it does best. decrease jobs. it creates wealth. that is how to do it. [applause] -- it creates jobs. it creates wealth.

that is how to do it. in 2003, we had a $10 billion shortfall in the state of texas. it was the first time since reconstruction in the 1870's all-republican leadership. we had a republican-dominated house and senate. we had a major issue with the resources coming in not meeting the previous budgets level. we had to make a hard decision. they were calling for a state income tax and some of the major media markets. they said it was time for t exans to understand it was time to pass a personal income tax. we believe that ronald reagan knew what he was talking about. we believe that supply-side economics work. if you cut the spending, the job

creators will flourish. that is exactly what we did. they were hard and tough decisions. we were not the most popular people in the state of texas, that is okay. what we created in 2003 by putting those principles into play started a process that is today allowing the state of texas to stand without a doubt as the number one economy in america. there are more jobs created in the state of texas in the last decade than any other state in the country. with the number one exporting state for the eighth year in a row. [no audio] day in and day out until some governor in some other state understands that you have to put those principles in place and then you can come and knock texas off of that perch.

>> we are looking at governor rick perry at the conference yesterday. we are going to take you live now to new orleans for the third day of the southern republican leadership conference. the speakers will include michael steele, ron paul, and several of this house colleagues, including mike pence per. >> it is my privilege to introduce one of our ramselouisa congressman. his story is an american story. his gait from vietnam at the end of the war. his father was imprisoned by the communists. in the united states, he took the initiative to push himself through rigorous schooling. he earned a bachelor's degree in physics from baylor, a master's in philosophy from fordham, and

a doctorate from viola university. he is always been at the forefront. this leads him to address women's rights and the catholic church, social justice and the response to hurricane katrina as part of the national advisory council of united states conference of christians bishops. as the underdog republican candidate in new orleans, you expected him to carry the day, that he did, i am honored to have such a great man here today. please welcome congressman joseph [applause] >> thinks. -- thinking.

-- thank you. i want to welcome and for yoevef you to the second district in louisiana. i hope he will take the opportunity to experience the big easy, the nightlife here with its unique blend of exquisite cuisine and fabulous music, to experience the beautiful parks, the educational museums, and the distinctive neighborhoods. i want you to take in all ththat we call new orleans. one of the great privileges of being representative, in the first vietnamese representative in congress, is that i have the opportunity to travel all over the united states, to speak to

and meet different people. every time i am there, i always look forward to the last day when i can jump on the airplane and fly back to the city of new orleans. the city has agreed culture, great music, and great people. i would like to welcome you to new orleans. i hope he will take time -- i hope you will take time out to spend all the money that you have before you leave and enjoy new orleans. [applause] please stand and let us pray together. heavenly father, we thank you for this gift of life. we thank you for bringing us together to share our life stories, power struggles, and sufferings, to share our hope and vision for the future of this great nation.

we are also mindful of those who are not with us here today. we pray for the families of the 29 miners who died in west virginia. we pray for our troops in iraq and afghanistan. we prayed for all of those who at this time to not have a job and are struggling to make ends meet. we pray for all those who are sick and suffering, especially in haiti. amidst the trials and tribulations of life, we ask that you would teach us to be generous. teach us to serve you as you deserve, to give, to fight, to 12, to labor and not ask for words.

we know that we're doing your will. amen. >> we will now welcome lanelle to do the pledge of allegiance. >> i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> she would like to address the crowd. >> i want to thank you all very much for coming here today. i know you have come from very

far away. you have made a great sacrifice to come and be here. it shows what a great party we have. it is a great testament that you have come here today to help our party in these trying times. when i was called upon in december and asked to c0-chair even, they said the return to do something they had never done before with an off-year convention. i was very excited about it. i was asked to talk to you about some things that i thought needed to be addressed in the party. it would be short.

there is nothing i can say that has not been said already. but i can tell you a true story. i moved to new orleans in 1979. i lived in the uptown area. it is in the pathway of the air force base. it is unable aerostation where it had a lot of activity for many years. f-14's have traditionally phone on the uptown area. i have always had a great love of aviation. when i hear the jets, i run out hoping to see them. i realized about 100 days after president obama took office that those sams had disappeared.

-- that those sounds had disappeared. we did not have those airplanes coming into the airport anymore. i really started listening. i think what really bothers me about the fact that we do not have the jets coming in and out, there have been three within the last two month come into calendar. one flew off and did not land there. we have a great asset of oil and gas returns in the gulf region reserves in the gulf of mexico. if there were to be a terrorist attack in the gulf of mexico, even though there is a coast guard program out there, would there be jets there on time to

save it? with the gas reserves be saved? could we suffer a catastrophe that could not be undone? all the things we see in the fabric of our lives, what about the things we do not see? i would like for you to keep these things in mind. we can talk about how much things have changed and how much things in changed that we do not even know about. that is what we need to be worrying about. i am going to ask you to go home and think about this. i will also ask that you share it with your friends and families. i will also ask this. are you having a good time? [applause]

i know you all came here as participants, but i hope that you will all leave feeling that you are actors. when you leave here, you have a job. if you choose, if you have the ability to take the energy and the power you have found of the people here to go out and take action and make a difference. please talk to your families and friends. go out and vote. make sure you get your friends to go out and vote. only you can make it happen. each one of us can make it happen. please enjoy yourself, enjoy new orleans. thank you so much for being here. [applause]

>> thank you. we appreciate the speech. the next man has offered alternatives in place of irresponsible governments. he fights every day for louisianans and their families. he serves on the armed services, banking, housing and urban development, commerce, science and transportation, environment and public works, and small business and entrepreneurship committees. he has made the disappearing coastline a priority. he was a major player in lowering the cost of prescription drug prices through pioneering legislation allowing us to import cheaper drugs from

canada he fights for conservatism. he fights for louisiana. please join me in welcoming david vitter. [applause] ♪ >> thank you very much. [applause] thank you so much for the warm welcome. even more than that, thank you for doing what all you do for the republican party. thank you for doing it this week in louisiana. we really appreciate that. [applause] i want to give a special thanks because many of you are back after having 12 years after

hurricane katrina -- are back after having toiled year after hurricane katrina. i want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your help during our time of need. thank you very much for all that. [applause] been here five years later, we are rebuilding very successfully and aggressively. thanks to younger form of leadership, we're not just rebuilding. we are rebuilding smarter and smarter. we're not just rebuilding. we are rethinking and reforming and renewing. we need to all bring that same energy, vision, and spirit to washington and our nation starting this fall. i know you are up for that as well. [applause]

we have been starting here in louisiana to rebuild smarter in every part of our society. in the nfl, we're not the "ain ts"anymore. we're the world champion new orleans saints. in politics, we have been turning old style louisiana politics on its head for the better. [applause] i am honored to be a small part of that that. in 2004, i became the first republican u.s. senator albert elected by the people of louisiana. [applause]

-- i became the first republican u.s. senator albert elected by the people of louisiana. we joined together and sent to the governor's mansion a bright visionary for our state and nation. he is a conservative, indian- american rhodes scholar governor, bobby jindal. [applause] this fall, we will build on that success. with your help, and will become the first ever to wo-term republican senator from louisiana. that will be part of a national wave bringing positive, a conservative change to washington and our nation.

[applause] i am absolutely convinced of that. we have work to do. but i have no doubt. while you have been convening over the past few days, i have been other places. i have been to lafayette, st. bernard, shreveport. almost every corner of our great state. it is interesting. in all of those places, i have heard exactly the same message and exactly the same themes that you and the speakers here have articulated this week. that is why we're going to be so successful in the fall. [applause] just thursday, i was in a mmamo.

i was talking to an older man who had grown up there. he did not look or speak anything like newt being rich, but he said just about the same thing. -- he did not look or speak anything like newt gingrich, but he said just about the same thing. he said that this president and administration are radical and scare him. [applause] in the last 24 hours, i have heard something else from many people in those stocps all around the state. i have heard that if that is the choice in 2012, they will take a tv personality over a community organizer any day. [applause]

keep fighting. keep organizing. keep being positive. keep offering clear, conservative alternatives as we marched towards victory in the fall. one more thing that i think is really important. keep reaching out to our friends, brothers, and sisters in the tea party movement. keep doing that, too. [applause] i am going from this conference today directly to the north shore to 80 party rally because i believe this is so important -- to 80 party rally because i believe this is so important. -- to a tea party rally because i believe this is so important. we will be part of a positive

change starting in the fall. the tea party movement will be the fuel that surcharges that vehicle. together, we will get to an astounding victory, starting in the fall. [applause] if you have any question or doubt about the importance and power of our movements. together -- about the importance and power of our movements put together, just look to the left. they're not maligning our efforts in the tea party effort for nothing. between now and the election, he will see that reached new highs and lows. you will see a campaign to malign that movement like never before. just go to crashtheteaparty.org

you will see a determined effort to try to misuse the effort to split our votes. we will not fall for it. the american people will not fall for it. we will march together to an historic victory come the fall election. thank you for being a huge part of that. [applause] thank you for being a huge part of that. now it is my real honor to introduce someone else was going to be a huge part of that in 2010 and beyond. rick santorum is a great american. [applause] i am very honored to call him a great personal friend.

as a u.s. senator, rick was a leader in defending our role is a global leader in the fight to preserve democracy and human rights. he stood up to foreign dictators, offering the accountability act and the iran freedom support act with sanctions on rogue nations and to promote democracy around the globe. rick also recognizes that free- market principles of the best way to help our ailing economy. we must reduce the size of government by reducing taxes and keeping our fiscal house in order. in congress, he fought to maintain fiscal sanity in a city spiraling towards national bankruptcy, fighting for a balanced budget and a line item veto. he spearheaded the tax cuts that helped to rebuild our economy

following the september 11 attacks. he believes we must protect those who are most vulnerable. he fought powerfully for those who cannot fight for themselves. it was his legislation that outlawed the heinous procedure known as partial birth abortion. [applause] rick also championed and successfully fought for the unborn child back in the combating autism act. he was a leader in the effort to pass landmark welfare reform. that empowered millions of americans to leave the welfare rolls and get to the promised land of the workplace, the

promised land of american opportunity. rick keeps very busy. his a senior fellow at the ethics and public policy center. use part of a nationally syndicated radio program. is a contributor on the fox news channel in the columnist with the "philadelphia inquirer." of all of those tasks and present accomplishments, you feels his greatest accomplishment is being a great husband and father. he and his wife have seven wonderful children. please welcome a great american, rick santorum. [applause] ♪ [applause]

>> thank you. i appreciate it. thank you very much, david. think you for welcoming me to louisiana. thank you for the outstanding conservative leadership that david vitter has shownn the senate. i do not tnk he will find a more conservative or principled voting record. he has a tough election. we've got to help david and make sure that he comes back for six years in the united states senate. we have seven children. my wife is back home with six of my kids.

we have one in college and an almost two-year old. they are watching us on c-span. i want to say hello. [applause] you know about the great sacrifices the family's maiies e when people are in office. people ask me what to preform. the first thing i say is to pray for the families of those on the front lines. without the families there, nothing is possible. i am going to speak for a few minutes. i will leave some time for questions and answers. one thing i have learned since i have been out of politics for three years -- reporters ask what i am doing here. it has given me time to reflect.

when i was in congress, i saw that we spent too much time talking to each other and not enough time listening to you. [applause] number two, you have an important role in holding us accountable. you can hold us accountable by coming to the meetings, asking the tough questions, and expecting thorough answers on not just what we think but why we think what we think. [applause] without a teleprompter. so why am i here? that is the question i get all the time i am here because like millions of viewyou, over the pt

year, the sense of alarm has gone up exponentially since january 20 of 2009 turned into a stimulus package. we're in the throes of potentially the greatest recession since the great depression. with a president who cares not about solving problems but care is simply about passing a wish list of liberal ideas. he ignores the problems of people in order to appease an ideology. as the recession continues and unemployment creeps up, we see the president focused on another ideological achievement. that is the ideological achievement of taking over the health care system and wrapping the hands of the government around the throat of every american by controlling their access to health care. that is the ideological

achievement that pushes aside solving problems, dealing with deficits, dealing with unemployment, dealing with the security problems we have. it has been focused almost a year and try to shove down the roats ofhemerican public an ideal that is counter to everything we believe in in america. we set out in frustration and amazement -- we sat there in frustration and amazement. we thought it could not happen about it, the more they opposed it. washington would listen to us. washington only listens in november. washington only listens when people focus on the people who represent their values in november. what happened is that the american people said that they

do not believe that what republicans have said that therefore, that they were willing to go out and do it. we let america down. conservatism did not fail america. conservatives failed conservatism. [applause] we have the burden ahead of us. we talk about how we want to do things differently. we have seen great speeches going after this president for the stimulus package and the health care package, which is doing to disarm america and make our country less secure.

the best example i can use of this id ministration and how they see the security threat of our country is the quadrennial defense review. in these hundreds of pages that the pentagon put out, there is not one mention of the word "is lam." but there are eight pages dedicated to global warming as a national security threat. this is the kind of misguided idealism that it's countries into a world of hurt in a very short amount of time. we've opened our arms to the world enemies of america in given the fact of our hand to friends like israel, honduras, the brits, in the list goes on. this is a dangerous and alarming

time. i realized i could not be sitting there anymore. we have to go and do something. as i travel the country, i see a singular focus, and resolved in the american people. it cannot be just about one government. it cannot be just about that. -- it cannot just be about more government. it cannot be just about that. we were guilty of that when we were there. [applause] what is it that has sparked this flame burning so broadly across america? the political landscape is about to shift. what i think we see happening is a change of who we are as

america being threatened. america is not a country based on an ethnic heritage. america is an ideal. you can be born in louisiana and moved to italy and live there for 50 years and you will never be an italian. but when my grandfather came to america as an italian, he became an american. [no audio] [applause] [applause] america is an ideal based on founding documents. we hear a lot about founding documents. i am talking about different

founding documents. the founding documents upon which our founding documents were based for the judeo- christian faith. we are the people of western civilization founded upon the bible. we believe in the dignity of every human person because we are created in the image of god. we believe in the collective ability of free and virtuous people to do more for our society them a benevolent, authoritarian government in betwoinstowing rights upon us. [applause] we believe in free markets and free enterprise. we believe in power of the individual. we believe that families are the

basic unit of society and not government. families are responsible for educating and cultivating character in our children. it is not the schools. it is the families. the schools are there to help and not replace the families. [applause] we believe in the things that we are taught from the earliest times of our lives. those of the principles on which our country is based. we believe in the constitution based on the judeo-christian ethics. [applause] there is a truth. there are rights that we have because god gave them to us. it is the government's job simply to protect those rights. if you look at th -- our

constitution and founding documents talk about a creator, these rights endowed by god. the other constitution does not mention the history of christendom. they are a separate country. their country were the government is the diviner of rights. what is at stake in this election is the vision of who we are as americans. it is our aspiration that people are worried about. americans never lived up to our aspirations. -- america has never lived up to our aspirations. we're human. we fail and fall. the reason people come to this country is not because of who we are, but it is because of who we

want to be. [applause] barack obama wants to change who we want to be. he wants to change the vision of america that our founders and generations before and ingrained in all of us. that is why americans are unsettled. they see something bigger than just more of the same washington stuff. it is a bigger and broader vision than his gotten people to be dropped out of their chairs and say, "no. we're going to fight for america. we're going to fight for our judeo-christian ethic and founding documents. and we will win in november. [applause]

i will stop right there. i will be happy to take questions. you will have to find a microphone. where are the microphones? is there someone with a microphone? i cannot see because of the lights. if someone has a microphone, talk. >> over here. >> just start talking. i will answer you. go ahead. >> i am a little nervous about

asking this question. i am so afraid it will sound disrespectful. i think you gave a great speech and meant every word of it. you talked about conservatives letting down conservatism. i am from pennsylvania and live in georgia now. one of the most disheartening times i have in politics was when you and president bush endorsed specrtre to me. many of us want to support the currency, but many of us will not because they will support arlen specter over us. [applause] >> i appreciate the question.

it is one data. about a lot. i thought about the consequences of my actions. what i said repeatedly is that we all make mistakes. we all fail and fall. that is why the story in the bible about people dropping stones around the feet of christ is so poignant. my wife encouraged me at the time not to do what i did. [laughter] [applause] you would figure after 20 years, and would have learned a few things. but i did not listen to her. i should have. i will be very honest with you. there is one reason i did. the people who were most upset with me about endorsing arlen specter were most upset about the abortion issue.

in my 12 years in the senate, no one fought for the issue of abortion more than i did. i endorsed a man who does not share my views on that. the reason i ended up endorsing arlen specter is because we have two supreme court justices coming up in the next few years. we had a narrow majority. i did not know if we were going to keep the majority or not in the next election. i knew we would need moderate republicans and maybe even moderate democrats to confirm bush's appointments to the supreme court. i want to the pro-life judges. for me, that was the most important issue. i got a commitment out of arlen specter that no matter who george bush would nominee, he would defend the nominee and get us moderate democratic and republican votes. we of justices robert an -- we

now have justices roberts and alito. [applause] i know it is easy to stand and cheer and say you have violated your principles. i can just say that i prayed and used what i thought was provincial government to do what i thought was best for the millions of unborn children who die every year in this country. even question my judgment and have every right to do so. -- you can question my judgment and have every right to do so, but please do not question my intentions to do the right thing for unborn babies. [applause] >> rick, i know that we have praised the tea party group. but the ones we should praise the most are these women's republican organizations.

>> absolutely. [applause] >> i would not be today if not for the volunteer activities. i was always supposed to lose. republican women's organizations provided the fuel to whenever fire i could provide. thank you, ladies. god bless you. [applause] doh ahead. -- go ahead. >> my mother and father's first language was french. they were here illegally. they were hit the recalled speaking french on school grounds or in the classroom. today, we have just about lost our language because of this. our parents would not speak

french to me. i have picked it up over the years. today, i have to press 1 for english and i want it stopped. [applause] >> my father came to this country. i am the first generation american. my father always told me the greatest gift he had was to be assimilated and the part of the american culture because that is the key to success in america. from a purely economic view, teaching children the language of the country is essential for their success in this country. [applause]

when we do not do that, we put them at a disadvantage. secondly, this country has been called many things. we are a melting pot. we're not a mosaic. we're not individual units that make a picture. we blend together with a common understanding of who we are. i am not suggesting that we need to keep to that understanding of america as a melting pot and that the american ideal is universal in different parts of the country. >> we enjoy you every friday morning. is it not time for the leadership of the republican party to step forward, admit the

mistakes that have been made, and differentiate the republican party from the democratic party and restate our principles and values clearly? [applause] >> i think you are seeing that more and more. gov. rick perry was up here. you are hearing what i have said. other leaders outside of washington are admitting that. i think he will find the leaders inside washington believe that. i agree with you the need to be more forthright. we will not convince the american public to trust again unless we can demonstrate to them that we understand what is needed in america and we understand the role of limited government and we're going to deal with these huge problems. we have to be willing to stand up and say tough things.

there are leaders in washington who have stepped forward and talk about programs that have to be cut. they talk about things we have to do to get our fiscal house in order. you are seeing signs of that. i will turn its back on you. you have to hold the key to the fire of the folks in washington that is why what we're seeing here is so vitally important. that is what i take the risk of having the not most complementary questions asked. if you want to connect to the american people and get people excited, if you are going to have to follow through with it when you get elected. >> since the 1930's, our federal

government has acquired more power by using the commerce clause. it has given itself the power to be able to legislate under the terms of the commerce clause things that we certainly do not want. is it time that we have a national constitutional convention to rewrite the clause and limit the application? >> no, we do not need a constitutional convention to the constitution is just fine. -- know, we do not need a constitutional convention. the constitution is just fine. [applause] this is an issue you are going to hear more and more about. you hear about it on the issue of marriage. you will hear it on another issue.

it is not the constitution that is the problem. it is the courts that are the problem. [applause] we have this doctrine that people think is in the constitution but it is not. it is judicial review. it says the courts have the last say as to what is constitutional. that comes from a court case called margueribury versus madi. we have adhered to it because throughout most of american history, the courts of done what the founding fathers believed they would do. that is to practice judicial restraint. they would try to be a neutral arbiter and allow the issues the congress and the president should handle to the work of

other bodies. that has changed. you are seeing movements. you are seeing it in iowa with the supreme court forcing the issue of marriage. you will see constitutional challenges to the courts and their ability to be the super- legislature. i think that is one of the coming battles. the courts should practice judicial restraint. [applause] >> thank you, senator. i am 72 years old. >> happy birthday. >> for 50 of those years, and was a sustaining member of the republican party. i am kind of proud of that, or are used to be. for the last couple of years, things have changed.

i think there's plenty of blame to go around to both republican and democratic parties. i have been to one town hall meeting or one t party meeting. and that common people there like myself. i am an old farmer and cowboy. -- annette, and people there like myself. i saw reflected their my values. we do not care what party you are from. what we hear is what you believe in. that is the person i am going to support in the future. [applause] >> i appreciate that. [applause] i keep coming thaback to that te republican party is not the chairman.

it is you. you are the republican party. i always say this. it is incumbent upon you. the tea party people have spoken up. you can speak up within the republican party and have a huge impact. i know a lot of them are because they come to the sentence. that is vitally important. this is a democracy. we're not going to be out doing things -- if we say charge and no one follows, this is not going to work. this party is made up of people. i would encourage you. by encourage you to -- i encourage you to speak loudly and often. speak with your dollars and her volunteer hours. -- speak with your dollars and/or volunteer hours. >> this lady would like to ask

you a question. >> bless your heart. [applause] -- this lady would like to give you some flowers. >> was your heart. -- was your heart. >> she is from the town where my father grew up. there's an important election going on. the candidate's name is tim burns. the latest poll shows we're up by four points. it is the only district in the country that george bush lost and john mccain won. it is a district where we can win. we need your help. if you can help out tim burns, we can pull off a big surprise in johnstown, pennsylvania.

>> in the tea party member from the fourth district. you spoke about exactly how i think we said we talk the talk and do not walk the walk. i am concerned with the republican national committee selecting candidates that will be republicans and not conservatives. in the fourth district of mississippi, we have that situation. it looks like the good old boys are supporting one person and the rest of the people are supporting someone else. >> go beat them. that is what elections are all about. i encourage candidates to run. even if you do not win, the fact that you have run the race in shown there is concern -- the point is to do it.